The policies and practices for the academic assessment of blind students in higher education and professions

Abstract

Disabled students in general and blind students in particular have been increasingly participating in higher education and professions worldwide in recent years. Teaching but in particular academic assessment of these students has been controversial in terms of both policies and practices. A number of adjustments would need to be made during the academic assessment of these students to ensure that their true knowledge and competence are measured instead of their disabilities whilst maintaining academic and professional standards. A case study is used to highlight the current policies and practices regarding the high-stakes academic assessment of these students and it is argued that the "best ensure standard" developed by the Americans with Disabilities Act (1990) would be the most appropriate approach in academic assessment of these students as this approach ensures that these students' true knowledge and competence are measured rather than their disabilities according to their learning modalities.